Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-05-24
THl: OLD NAN.

#
yard I" another. balancing himself upon
his crutches, the constant use uf which
had pushed up lns shoulders To a level
with his ears His head seemed ~ If
buried between two hills
, In the villages they would give him
scarcely anything; lac WAS too well known:
people had become tired of the sight Of
him; they had seen him for forty long
years going from farm house To farm
/ house, pulling his ragged and driormed
body along with the aid Of his two woodeu
legs. Sill lie did not want to 90 away,
/ because all of the world he knew anything
about WAS that one little patch of country.
with its three or four villages, through
( which he had been dragging his miserable
existence. He had laid down IA frontier
/ line for his heggary, and he could never
have gone beyond the limits which he had
never accustomed himself to cross
He did not know whether til. world eN-
tended very far beyond the line of tree,
which had always been the boundary of
his vision He did not even ask himself
whether il did or did not And when the
peasants. weary of seeing him always hob
bling along their fields or sitting down be
side their bitches, would shout out to him:
why don I you go 10 the other villages
instead OF always Crutching ab0ut heres'
he would never make a reply, but simply
take himself of, full of a vague fear Of
the unknown-the fear Of poor creature
who breads Il thousand different things in
sort of confused way-new faces abuse
the suspicious observation of people who
did not know him, and the gendarmes who
walked the road two by two, and the very
sight of whom made him instinctively
stink behind bushes or stone heaps
heneN-r he saw them coming in the
distance. glirteriug in their uniforms
under the sunlight, he would suddenly de-
Nelop an extraordinary agilIty-the agility
of a mnnstrr-in seeking hiding place.
He would tumble down from his crlItches
letting himself fall fiat like "A rag; and
then he wunld roll himself all up into a
ball, become quite little become invisible,
lie Hat like u hare in itS lair, 81 as To make
his brown rags seem part of the ground
that the: re~embled in r,lor
Notwithstanding, he had never had any
trouble with them la his life But ne had
the instructive fear Of them in his blood
aS though he had inherited the fear and
cunning of those parents whom he had
never known.
He had no refuge, no roof no hut no
shelter, He slept anywhere ia summer.
and in winter he slipped under barns or
into stables with astnni> ling address. He
always got away in the morning Iefore |
any one had suspected his presence. He !
knew all the holes through which he could |
get into the farm buildings: and AS she I
constant use Of crutChes had given him ex-
power in his arms. he was |
able 10 climb hand over hand into the hay /
lofts, where he would often remain three
or four days nj a time without moving
especially when he had been able to col
lect some provisions upon his rounds.
He lived like the beasts of the fields, in
the midst Of men, without knowing any
body. without loving anybody-;he feel
ing toward him among the peasants was
simply one Of indifferent contempt and
resigned hostility. They had nicknamed
him Cioche the belh hecause he swung
along between his CrutcheS Ike bell be
tween its SUPPORTS.
For two whole days he hid esten moth
ing al all, Nohody would give him a bit
more People had finally got tired of him
The peasant WOMEN AT their doors would /
scream out 10 him from q distance when
they saw him coming:
Get away from here, you old cloihop-
per! Didn't give You piece Of bread
1nly three days ago
Then he would pivot round upon his
,rutches and take himself To the neigh
boring house, only 10 he there received in
ike manner.
From door 10 door the women cried
,ut:
''One can't undertake 10 feed that
Oafer all the year round, anyhow
Nevertheless the loater had 10 get some
hing io eat every day.
He had gone all through Saint Hilairc,
'aryille and Les Billettes without being
Ibie Ia get one copper or one hard crust |
II bread. There was no hope for him,
onsequently, except at TGurnOlles: but lie
lad TO travel two leagues on the public
highway 10 get there; and lie felt already |
o weak that he could hardly drag himself
long. having his stomach rs empty as his
ocket
Nevertheless he started
Ii Was December; u cold wind PLAYED
yer the fields, and whislled through The :
aked branches; while the clouds were ,,
nshing through low hanging, dark sky, ,
5 if hurrying God knows where ,,
The cripple moved ON slowly, lifting up :
is crnteheS with a painful effort, relying ,
''e ' iaiA4t upon tNittillllN Vi the one l.,
x left him, terminated by clubfoot and ,
lad with Ii rag. .
From time to time he would sit down
n the edge Of the roadside ditch, and rest
imself a little Hunger had created a
range distress in his duh and vague
lind. He had but one definite idea-''to =
it;' but how 10 get anything to eat he !,
i'll not know !
For thrae "a hole hon ha r,.l Il 1, |
long the road: then, when at last he
lught sight of the village trees. he quick
led his movements.
The first peasant he met and asked aims
:, answered him:
''iou here again, You old fraud, Seems !.
iat I'm never gong 10 be rid of YOU
And Cloche went off. At every door !,
. was roughly received, and turned AWAY y !
ithout being given anything. Patient
id persistent, he nevertheless continued
s round. He could not collect one cent ="
Then he visited the farms, shambling
'er the rain soaked clay of the fields-so
that he could not lift his
utches properly. He was driven from >
cry gate. II was one Of those cold and
small days when hearts are contracted, y
hen minds are irritable, when the dis Il
sition is gloomy, when no hand is vol n
.tarily extended either to give or to help =
When he had visited all the houses he h
new, he let himself fall his whole length 81
the edge of ditch beside the farm h
ard q Maitre Chiquet. He 'unhung n
mself, As they used TO say in order to Il
scribe the manner in which he let him "a
If tumble down from between his high L
'utches by letting them slip up through